strategy (English)
Where does "strategy" come from?
The English noun 'strategy' was borrowed from the Ancient Greek 'stratēgía', which meant 'office of general, command, or generalship'[1]. This Greek term is a compound built from 'stratós', meaning 'army', and 'ágō', meaning 'to lead'[1][4]. The history of 'stratós' traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root '*sterh₃-', meaning 'to spread or extend', with an original likely sense of a camping army spread over an area[6][9]. Meanwhile, 'ágō' descends through Proto-Hellenic from the Proto-Indo-European root '*h₂eǵ-', meaning 'to drive'[5].
Open questions
- The reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root '*sterh₃-' and its extension '*ster-' are inferred forms. [2] [6] [9]
- The original meaning of the Proto-Indo-European precursor to 'stratós' as a camping army is a reconstructed hypothesis. [6]
Full etymology tree
- strategy (English), 'The science and art of military command as applied to the overall planning and conduct of warfare.'
- derived στρατηγία (stratēgía) (Ancient Greek), 'office of general, command'
- derived στρατηγός (stratēgós) (Ancient Greek), 'A leader or commander of an army: general'
- compound στρατός (stratós) (Ancient Greek), 'army, military force'
- inherited *strətós (Proto-Hellenic)
- inherited *str̥tós (Proto-Indo-European)
- derived *str̥h₃tós (Proto-Indo-European), 'stretched, spread'
- derived *sterh₃- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to spread, extend, stretch out'
- derived *ster- (Proto-Indo-European), 'barren, infertile'
- derived *sterh₃- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to spread, extend, stretch out'
- derived *str̥h₃tós (Proto-Indo-European), 'stretched, spread'
- inherited *str̥tós (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *strətós (Proto-Hellenic)
- compound ἄγω (ágō) (Ancient Greek), 'to lead, fetch, bring along (a living creature), take with'
- inherited *ágō (Proto-Hellenic), 'to lead, to guide'
- inherited *h₂éǵeti (Proto-Indo-European), 'to be driving'
- derived *h₂eǵ- (Proto-Indo-European), 'goat'
- inherited *h₂éǵeti (Proto-Indo-European), 'to be driving'
- inherited *ágō (Proto-Hellenic), 'to lead, to guide'
- suffix -ος (-os) (Ancient Greek), 'Added to verbal roots to form an o-grade action noun.'
- compound στρατός (stratós) (Ancient Greek), 'army, military force'
- derived στρατηγός (stratēgós) (Ancient Greek), 'A leader or commander of an army: general'
- suffix -ία (-ía) (Ancient Greek), 'Added to stems of adjectives, rarely to the stems of verbs, and even more rarely to the stems of nouns, to form feminine abstract nouns'
- derived στρατηγία (stratēgía) (Ancient Greek), 'office of general, command'
Ancestors
- *sterh₃- (Proto-Indo-European)
- στρατηγία (Ancient Greek)
Descendants and derived words
- basic strategy (English)
- coping strategy (English)
- counter strategy (English)
- counter-strategy (English)
- e-strategy (English)
- evolutionarily stable strategy (English)
- exit strategy (English)
- fifty-state strategy (English)
- investment strategy (English)
- mating strategy (English)
- real-time strategy (English)
- sneaky fucker strategy (English)
Sources
- strategy (English) - Wiktionary
- sterh₃- (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
- στρατηγία (stratēgía) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
- στρατηγός (stratēgós) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
- ἄγω (ágō) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
- στρατός (stratós) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
- h₂éǵeti (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
- ágō (Proto-Hellenic) - Wiktionary
- str̥h₃tós (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
Updated August 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris